For Odysseus, the Mediterranean Sea was a world of dangers, love and destiny. From six-headed monsters to bewitching sirens and unpredictable gods, every island on his journey home brought a new adventure.
More than 2,500 years after Homers epic was first told, director Christopher Nolans The Odyssey has put this journey on big screens worldwide. But beyond the films blockbuster storytelling lies another character that is facing an odyssey of its own: the sea itself.
Since the Homerian times, the Mediterranean has been more than a beautiful body of water. Situated between Africa, Asia and Europe, the Mediterranean has been a highway connecting cities, civilizations and commerce. It has also provided food and livelihoods and been central to culture, spirituality and the spread of ideas.
With its shores now home to more than 500 million people and some 25 coastal metropolitan areas the Mediterraneans importance has only grown. Today, it supports massive industries of fishing, tourism, shipping (its home to the worlds busiest shipping lanes) and a growing list of others.
Its also an ecological treasure chest. Covering just 1 per cent of the worlds ocean surface, it contains up to 18 per cent of all known marine species more than a quarter of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
Credit: Karim Saari / Wikimedia ">
Underwater meadows of Posidonia oceanica an endemic seagrass named for the Greek god Poseidon and commonly known as Neptune grass cover more than 1.2 million hectares, provide habitat to troves of marine life, sequester carbon and cycle nutrients. Bordering ecosystems like mangroves, marshes, wetlands and dunes buffer the Mediterraneans approximate 46,000 kilometres of coastline and their communities against erosion and storms. These landscapes provide food, water, jobs and identities but theyre coming under increasing strain.
The Mediterraneans new monsters
Every day, an estimated 730 tons of plastic waste alone enters the Mediterranean, much of it carried there by rivers. Each year, rivers release up to an estimated 925 million items of floating litter into the sea, around 82 per cent of which are plastic. Single-use plastics account for more than 60 per cent of rubbish on Mediterranean beaches.
Wastewater, industrial chemicals, agricultural run-off and pollutants from ships are affecting the seas waters, alongside newer threats like pharmaceutical waste, microplastics, plastic additives and underwater noise that disturbs wildlife.
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As indicated each summer by recurring heatwaves, the Mediterranean region is warming 20 per cent faster than the global average temperature rise. This, along with changes in rainfall, sea-level rise and ocean acidification, are heightening threats of drought, wildfire, flooding, erosion and water shortages
The seas vibrant biodiversity loggerhead sea turtles, striped dolphins, swordfish, octopus and the rare Mediterranean monk seal, to name a few of its species is also declining as construction, pollution and various industries unsettle and damage their habitats. As larger predatory fish become scarce, fishers increasingly catch smaller species lower down the food chain, disrupting the food web. Non-native species are also displacing native wildlife when theyre introduced through shipping, aquaculture and other avenues.
These challenges are often self-reinforcing. Damaged coastal ecosystems provide less protection from storms and floods. Warmer water temperatures can make it easier for invasive species to spread, affecting native biodiversity and ecosystems. Irresponsible tourism produces increasing waste and places pressure on fragile habitats. While Odysseus largely tackled his encountered monsters one by one, the villains of the sea today work together to erode the overall health of the region.
A MAP forward for the Mediterranean
Fortunately, the sea has a hero: the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), known as UNEP/MAP. Created in 1975, it was the first regional action plan under the UNEP's broader Regional Seas Programme, which now brings 145 countries together to protect the worlds saltwater bodies. In 1976, Mediterranean countries adopted the Barcelona Convention, which serves as the regions primary legally binding framework for protecting its marine and coastal environment. The conventions seven protocols address critical issues ranging from pollution and hazardous waste to biodiversity, offshore activities and coastal development.
Twenty-one Mediterranean countries and the European Union work together through UNEP/MAP and the Barcelona Convention. While the protocols are enforced by the convention, UNEP/MAP supports countries to agree on collective rules, monitor the seas health, and turn regional commitments into national action.
It does this by helping countries reduce their plastic and chemical pollution, improve wastewater management and prepare for potential hazards like oil spills. A regional plan to prevent and manage marine litter, adopted in 2013 and updated in 2021, was the first legally binding framework of its kind. It committed the parties to reduce and remove marine litter and integrate circular economy approaches.
UNEP/MAP also supports marine protected areas and action plans for threatened biodiversity and habitats (including the Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows, among many others), promotes restoration of damaged ecosystems, and helps countries identify and control inbound avenues of invasive species, to keep them at bay. Under UNEP/MAP, 39 special protected areas covering more than 8 per cent of the sea have been established, as have species-specific protection plans, such as for the Mediterranean monk seal.
As temperatures rise and climate risks grow, UNEP/MAP also advises on smart coastal planning for countries, focusing on the restoration and health of natural defenses like dunes and wetlands. And its attention on sustainable production and consumption, tourism, ports and marine spatial planning aims to help Mediterranean economies grow while safeguarding the ecosystems that have underpinned prosperity since ancient times.
Unlike Odysseuss return to his home island of Ithaca, the Mediterranean doesnt have a single destination at the end of its odyssey. But there is a clear vision for its future.
What were pursuing is a healthy, thriving sea whose magnificent wildlife, ecosystems and industries can sustainably support the millions of people across a multitude of cultures who call the region home, says Tatjana Hema, coordinator of the programme.
A key to achieving this? Following the MAP.
Written by Gabrielle Lipton
Reviewed by Christos Loakeimidis and Tatjana Hema
